My Dear People, 

The First Reading for this Sunday teaches us an important lesson about how to handle one of the most difficult kinds of “enemies” we may face. But what if one’s enemy is an authority figure; especially within the kingdom of God itself? That was the dilemma young David had to face. Saul, the leader of God’s people, duly and properly anointed king by the prophet Samuel had wrongfully turned on David. Motivated by jealousy and fear, he was attempting to kill David. 

David fled from Saul. But Saul, with added troops, pursued him. Revealed in this Reading, David sneaked into Saul’s camp at night and found himself with the opportunity to assassinate Saul. Surely this was tempting and may have looked like a providential opportunity to David. Hadn’t God put all the soldiers into a deep sleep just so David could dispatch his enemy? Wouldn’t it be better to end Saul’s reign now and let the righteous David begin his? 

But David refused to slay Saul, reasoning: “I would not harm the one the Lord anointed.” Saul was not just a private person in the community, he was a sacred office bearer. He was the head of the people of God. Despite his personal corruption, he held that office legitimately. David knew that to kill Saul was not just an act of personal revenge, but it was a challenge to the authority structure of God’s people and an invitation to civil war among the Israelites. The political instability and civil war that would ensue if David slew Saul was not worth the temporary relief that it would bring to David. But more than that, to kill Saul was an assault of the sacred office of the kingship, and, indirectly, an assault on God’s authority itself. 

David’s restraint proved to be wise because it established among his men the principle that one does not “lay hands on the Lord’s anointed.”  David, too, was an anointed one of the Lord, and in time, would replace Saul as king. Had David set an example of assassination, he would likely have been assassinated himself at a later point in his career. But because he didn’t, he himself was not ever assassinated, and political assassination was very rare in his dynasty, causing the Davidic dynasty to last a little over four hundred years—the longest-lived dynasty in the ancient near east!

This principle still applies in the Church, which is both the kingdom of God and the kingdom of David since it is ruled by the Son of David. It applies to our anointed leaders, the hierarchy: priests, bishops, and the Pope. 

David was faced with the awful situation that the sacred leader of God’s people had become somewhat deranged and was trying to kill him. Talk about a sign of contradiction! It would have been easy for David to lose his faith in God’s providence and just give in to the power grab trend of his followers; but, David took steps to protect himself and fled from Saul. He also refused to start a civil war among God’s people that certainly would have led to their defeat at the hands of their enemies. 

This is a lesson of restraint for those of us in the Church today as well. In recent years, a large amount of “dirt” has been exposed from various members of the hierarchy, and it can be tempting to start a verbal or legal civil war within the Church against the perceived or real malefactors. But here is where faith needs to come in. God’s people need to trust that God will judge His leaders, as He promises to do (Exek 34:10). There are, of course, proper avenues to civil authorities, and appeals to the bishop and Pope. It is proper to call on the Church herself to exercise her own policies and disciplines. Which, however, had that been observed in the first place, would have prevented many tragic outcomes, including those in the church’s recent history.      

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente